In Day 8 of our epic Family Travel Adventure we explore Budapest aboard a Big Bus Tour. We enjoyed our London Big Bus Tour so much and found it to be such good value that we did it again in Budapest.
We discovered there are 2 main routes – red and blue. The style of the tour is the same as in London, it is hop on hop off as many times as you like. There is also a river cruise along the Danube River, which can be used as many times as you like.
We got the premium tickets which allowed us 2 days of travel, a night bus tour, and a night river cruise.
Budapest Big Bus Tour – Blue Route
The main attractions along the blue route are as follows:
- Chain Bridge
- Royal Palace
- St Anna Church
- Batthyany Square
- Margaret (Golden) Bridge
- Margaret Island
- Nyugati Square
- St.Stephen’s Basillica
- Elizabeth Square
- Downtown shopping district
- Great synagogue
- River Cruise departure point
- Elizabeth Bridge
- Castle Garden
Our main strategy for day 1 was to do the full lap on the blue bus, listen to the recorded guided tour, and to take a river cruise. Later we would return for the 9pm night bus tour.
Sampling Some Hungarian Sausages
We also found time to explore the shopping district downtown, and to sample some of the famous Hungarian cuisine. I went for the Hungarian Sausage with sauerkraut, Clarice went for the Hungarian Goulash, and Clarc went for Pizza. I guess he’s not quite up to Hungarian experiments yet. Our Hungarian exploration turned out to be hot, spicy, delicious and filling. And exploring the labyrinth of narrow streets was overall fascinating
Danube River Cruise
The cruise along the Danube River was wonderful. There are cruises about every 1.5 hours, and each cruse takes approx. 70 minutes. You cruise from Elizabeth Bridge, up past the Royal Palace and Matthias Church. Then under the Golden Bridge and up to Margaret island, where you have the option to disembark and walk around the island. Then the boat turns around and you cruise past the Hungarian Parliament building and back to the departure point.
Budapest Night Tour on the Big Bus Tour
The night bus tour was a bit of a let-down in my opinion. Sure there were plenty of beautiful sights to take in at night, however our bus-driver barely stopped at any of them. Instead we just drove straight past them.
Being a photographer I like to take long exposure shots on my DSLR camera. To do this you really need a tripod to keep absolutely still. however you can get away with a very steady hand. But on this bus tour the bus didn’t stop, so it was virtually impossible to get any good long exposure night photos. The night cruise is probably the better option to get a good look at Budapest by night.
Overall Impressions of Budapest
Budapest impressed us as a fascinating city with a rich history of Ottoman, Soviet and independent history. The massive buildings throughout the city are quite breathtaking, and one could spend days exploring the interior of these buildings.
Unfortunately for us we were limited with time, and only got to see the outsides. The shopping and dining wasn’t as cheap as we thought it might be, but it was not exactly expensive either. Being peak season in summer the el fresco dining options are seemingly endless. We’re glad we visited Budapest, and can’t wait to see more tomorrow!
Catch our other European VLOG adventures
You can catch other VLOG episodes of this family adventure by clicking these links:
- VLOG-001 – Noi Bai Airport Hanoi
- VLOG-002 – Bangkok to Doha
- VLOG-003 – London Big Bus Tour
- VLOG-004 – London Sightseeing by Foot
- VLOG-005 – London to Geneva Journey
- VLOG-006 – Geneva France
- VLOG-007 – Geneva to Budapest via Brussels
- VLOG-008 – Budapest Big Bus Tour
- VLOG-009 – Budapest Royal Palace
- VLOG-010 – Budapest to Vienna Train Trip
- VLOG-011 – Schonbrunn Palace and Zoo Vienna
- VLOG-012 – Vienna Self Guided Walking Tour
- VLOG-013 – Vienna Big Bus Tour
- VLOG-014 – Vienna to Prague
- VLOG-015 – Prague Self Guided Foot Tour
- VLOG-016 – Karlstejn Castle Prague
- VLOG-017 – Prague Zoo Daytrip
- VLOG-018 – Prague to Geneva
- VLOG-019 – Europe to Vietnam, 5 countries in 2 days
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